Wednesday, February 26, 2014

I have made a submission to the Committee for the Environment, Community and Local Government for a hearing regarding the current legislation (over 16000 word document). I have outlined all the evidence worldwide. We have supporting statements from approx 100 world organisations currently, who are all in total opposition to breed specific legislation.

I just need your help one last time. This is what will make the difference and make this a success. I need you to please send a quick email to one (or a few) of the people listed below. They are the individuals responsible for the current legislation and have the power to remove breed specific legislation in Ireland. You can email whoever you want, location does not matter as it relates to a committee.

What I need you to do is:

o Email them explaining why you feel breed specific legislation (i.e. Control of Dogs Act Regulations 1998) should be removed from lawo Ask for a reference number for your email (this is important, and will make them reply)o Above all please be polite, they may not know anything about the issues yet

If you could do this it would be amazing and greatly appreciated. It would take a matter of minutes, but the consequences could be huge.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Here is the latest problem we are facing to stop the roundups and protect all the threatened herds of wild horses living in freedom on public land:

We encourage the public to stop panicking and read everything they are asking their senators and representatives to do on their behalf.

Are wild horses really at risk of being slaughtered if they aren't sterilized?

Is something in that form letter you received that you don't agree with? Do you want wild horses sterilized using EPA approved restricted use pesticides?

These pesticides are not safe for domestic horses so why are they being pushed for use on wild horses? Are you giving up the fight for their freedom to live in natural family bands?

Why is an advocacy group encouraging their supporters to write members of Congress--via click and send form letter--asking them to sign on to the pledge to sterilize wild horses (already in non-viable herds) when BLM overpopulation claim is false?

We found their pitch citing a quote from the National Academy of Sciences 2013 report in their form letter being circulated around the Internet. It reads:
". . . Considering all the current options, [porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccines and GonaCon™ vaccine for females and chemical vasectomy for males] either alone or in combination, offer the most acceptable alternative to removing animals for managing population numbers . . ."

Even worse is the pledge they are requesting members of Congress sign and return the advocacy group's office.

Senators and representatives will think the public wants "[porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccines and GonaCon™ vaccine for females and chemical vasectomy for males] either alone or in combination". Is that what you want?

Or do you want to stop the roundups with a 10-year moratorium (suspension) on roundups for scientific research to investigate what's the best way to manage the underpopulated herds of wild horses left in the West?

Why is this group pushing an elected official "pledge" to use "available fertility control" without scientific studies on population, migration, and holistic land management? What is going on here? Who is funding this scare-tactic-based campaign to sterilize America's wild horses?

Why isn't the group mentioning to members of Congress that the National Academy of Sciences report also said there is "no evidence" of overpopulation--why omit this?

Why hasn't the group done any independent aerial or in-the-field research on population? Is it because it would not support the BLM's faulty overpopulation claim?

The group appears to know wild horses are not overpopulated. Recently they were quoted in an Associated Press article debunking the BLM's overpopulation claim in comparison with livestock on public land.

Why then are they attempting to lead the public into blindly supporting a plan lacking good science--a plan calling for permanent and temporary sterility actions against indigenous wild horses?

Is the group eluding to a false risk of all wild horses going to slaughter if they aren't sterilized?

Why create all the panic so people will quickly click, sign and share the pledge with their senators and congressional representatives asking them to "take the pledge" for sterilization, etc.? Is the public reading what they are signing on to?

Did you know that International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros (ISPMB) wild horse herd study shows that functional social structures contribute to low herd growth compared to BLM managed herds: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6057

Even the National Academy of Sciences reported roundups resulted in abnormal increased birthrate. Are wild horses and burros fearing extinction now?

How can man (BLM and others) decide which wild horses to sterilize on the range and who to breed? That would be the end of survival of the fittest and the beginning of domestication of the wild horse and burro.

Is the group's paradigm flawed because it focuses on the individual wild horse and neglects to view the herd as most important--as the lifeblood?

Sanctuaries might need to sterilize wild horses because they have limited space but policy for native wild horses living in the wild should not be modeled after a sanctuary model--unless it is based on reserve design.

America's native wild horses and burros are wild animals who benefit the ecosystem and fill their niche, reduce wildfire fuel, and help reverse desertification. They are not back alley cats that should be spayed and neutered because of an overpopulation problem. No offense to cats : )

The alleged overpopulation problem for wild horses and burros is a farce.

Now the question is--What do we do to save the wild horses from those who are pushing for risky temporary and permanent sterilization using EPA approved "restricted use pesticides" on non-viable herds?

3.) Send an email to your senators and your representatives if you don't want America's wild horses to be sterilized. Let them know you didn't read the fine print of the form letter you signed and sent to them, if that is the truth.

4.) Meet with your senator's aides and your representative to request they intervene in the wipe-out of America's wild horses and burros by defunding the roundups and granting a 10-year moratorium on roundups for scientific research on population, migration, reserve design, holistic land management, etc.

5.) Visualize miracles of wild horses living in natural family bands in freedom.

Remember don't let anyone scare you into believing wild horses are going to be slaughtered if they aren't sterilized. Fight the good fight for our symbols of freedom and our national living treasures--America's wild horses and burros.

Contact us if you want to help the wild horses and burros survive the politics that are trying to bring them down. We need volunteers, donors and people to help get this petition out there! Email Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

Thank you for helping the wild horses and burros by signing and sharing the Petition to Defund and Stop the Roundups!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Tomorrow Friday, Feb. 21, 2014 is the deadline to comment on the DEC's mute swan management plan. Many thanks to everyone who has spoken up in defense of New York's swans! If you have not commented yet, please do so today - email fwwildlf@gw.dec.state.ny.us, even if it's just one sentence: "I oppose the DEC Mute Swan Management Plan" or sign one or all of the following petitions:

Legislation Alert!Finally, last week, Brooklyn Assembly Member Steven Cymbrowitz became the first elected official to speak out against the DEC's plan, and with the help of Friends of Animals, State Senator Tony Avella has introduced legislation which would place a two-year moratorium on the execution plan, and the bill has been co-sponsored by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Assemblyman Fred Thiele, and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, State Senators Brad Hoylman and Jose Serrano have joined as co-sponsors to the legislation as well!

Please call your NY Senator & Assembly member and tell them that it's crucial they sign on as co-sponsors and pass S.6589 / A.8790, and ask them to send a letter to the DEC opposing this plan. The legislation text can be read here: http://bit.ly/1fdEgVR

Saturday, February 15, 2014

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) refuses to provide humane care for captive wild horses and burros. The basics in animal husbandry are: food, water, shelter. The BLM is denying them shelter.

Now winter is here and it's freezing. This is especially hard on the pregnant mares, foals and the old who have been stressed from roundups, being torn apart from their families and living in captivity.

In the wild, mustangs can migrate to sheltered zones. When they are rounded up and held captive it's the BLM's responsibility to care for them but they continue to refuse to provide shelter. Instead they are performing "studies" . . .

Now BLM wants to roundup more! The agency, under the Department of Interior, has just received 12 million tax dollars from Congress for more helicopter roundups in 2014 when the truth is they are underpopulated on the range.

The Nevada Farm Bureau and the Nevada Association of Counties (NACO) are suing BLM to destroy--yes kill--all the wild horses who were not adopted when offered 3 times, to make room for more wild horses held in captivity . . . like the ones currently treated inhumanely.

Spin Dr.s are trying to fool Congress, journalists and the public into believing there is an alleged overpopulation problem when the truth is there are "no excess" wild horses on the range. Commercial livestock on the range outnumbers wild horses more than 50 to 1. The National Academy of Sciences reported in 2013 that there was "no evidence" of overpopulation. Why is the BLM trying to invent an alleged problem to justify more cruel roundups?

We invite you to go look for yourself out on the range. Now wild horses are very hard to find after the roundup rampage began in 2009--under Secretary Salazar's direction.

Why are the Spin Dr.s trying to fool everyone? Why are tax dollars used for unnecessary roundups and removals?

Could the reason be that there is a huge oil and natural gas deposit--the Chainman Shale--under wild horse lands in Nevada and Utah? Is this the smoking gun?

Officials in the Chainman Shale area of Nevada are fueling the Nevada Farm Bureau and NACO lawsuit for more roundups and to kill alleged unadoptables.

Why are they so desperate to remove native wild horses? Is this really about water rights? Fracking for oil and natural gas uses tons of water. You can read about it in the article, Fracking’s Terrifying Water Usage Trends Spell Disaster: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6238

The BLM recently announced an oil and gas lease sale for June 2014 to tap into the Chainman Shale in northeastern Nevada--rumored to hold the largest deposit of oil outside Saudi Arabia. Is this why they are rushing to remove more wild horses and sterilize herds?

The Horse magazine reports on BLM's alleged overpopulation problem and heinous sterilization plan, “Specifically, the BLM is interested in finding experts to develop or to refine current techniques and protocols for either the contraception or spaying/neutering of on-range male and female wild horses,” Gorey said in http://www.thehorse.com/articles/33289/blm-seeks-ideas-on-wild-horse-management

Please call your Congressional Rep and send them this petition to ask them to intervene. These are Federal issues and these captives deserve to be cared for humanely with shelter.

We need people to help the cause with outreach, sanctuary, adoption, donating land, transportation, feed, funding, lobbying, etc. Please email us if you want to help America's wild horses and burros: Contact@ProtectMustangs.org.

Thank you so much for signing and sharing these 3 petitions. When we get enough signatures we will deliver them. Together we can demand change for the voiceless who suffer.

I'm very shocked about the a series of horrifying pornographic videos originating in the Philippines in which scantily clad girls as young as 12 are videotaped torturing animals. These snuff or “crush” videos typically depict stepping, standing, or stomping on animals—from mice to large dogs—and are made for a niche market of demented individuals all around the world.The videos are so heinous that the U.S. enacted a federal law to ban their sale. The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation, responding to information from a whistleblower, conducted a confidential investigation for more than a year into one couple allegedly responsible for the production of “crush” videos that showed scantily clad young girls stomping on live animals, cutting the ears off screaming rabbits who were then set on fire, repeatedly driving a sharp stiletto heel into the eye of a monkey, and doing other horrific acts so disturbing that we will spare you the details.After an extensive search, the couple, Dorma Ridon and her husband, Vicente Ridon, were arrested and charged with violating child abuse, animal welfare, human trafficking, and wildlife-protection laws.Their trial is currently underway, and they continue to be held in custody, with a judgment on the charges expected early next year.This is a precedent-setting case that sends a clear message to people around the world: If you make such videos, you will be caught and you will go to jail.

I urge you to vocally support a bill currently in the Filipino Senate that would criminalize the sale of these videos and to do everything in your power to prevent their production and sale in your country.

On February 6, we have learned from the Busan KAPCA (Korea Alliance for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) that the perpetrator of this case is acquitted of all charges. The police and the prosecutor have misinterpreted their Animal Protection Law and decided that the sledgehammer blow to the neck and blow-torch killing of dogs is not cruel enough! Therefore, Busan KAPCA filed an appeal.

Please continue to lend your voice of support for the Busan KAPCA and against this horrendous cruelty to companion animals by sharing and inviting everyone to sign this petition!

"PLEASE POST THIS TO ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES AND EMAIL TO EVERYONE AND ANYONE! THE SWANS NEED SOME NATIONAL MEDIA ATTENTION IF WE WANT THE SLAUGHTERS TO STOP. GETTING THE INFORMATION TO THE FOLLOWING OUTLETS IN MASS IS THE ONLY WAY THEY HAVE A CHANCE. THIS WON'T WORK IF EVERYONE DOES NOT DO HIS OR HER PART. PLEASE DON'T THINK SOMEONE ELSE WILL DO IT, SO I DON'T HAVE TO. PLEASE DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO SPREAD THE WORD. THANK YOU!!!" KAREN

This week of February 10th, we are asking everyone from all over the United States and the world to join in our fight to save the MUTE SWANS in the United States of America.

Currently in Michigan, The DNR and USDA have slaughtered over 6000 mute swans. Their claims that the mute swans are non-native (been here since the 1800's), invasive to other waterfowl (the DNR makes thousands of dollars in rounding-up and hunting the Canada goose), eat all the vegetation in our lakes (yet swans stay on the same lakes year after year and associations harvest hundreds of pounds of weeds from lakes every year), and are extremely aggressive towards humans (State agencies are using a man's drowning death in another state to validify this. It was proven that the swan was not the reason for this fatality.) are not accurate and these agencies refuse to show us, the general public, proof (studies)of their claims. They have no studies on how other factors, such as fertilizers, waste runoff, pollution, factories, etc are destroying our lakes. Instead, they are targeting a bird that belongs on the water for all the things the DNR cannot control. They are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grant money to kill these swans. Do we, as taxpayers, want our money being used to kill swans? For more information, please check the Help Our Waterfowl (H.O.W.) Facebook Page for notes from last weeks Swan symposium.

Please, if you haven't done so already, please sign and forward this petition to everyone and anyone.

In New York, the DEC is on the warpath to slaughter all the mute swans in the state, approximately 2200, for the same reasons as Michigan, except they are also claiming that they are non-native and dangerous to air safety. Are native birds smart enough to avoid planes more so than non-native birds?

Please, if you haven't done so already, please sign and forward this petition to everyone and anyone.

Contact the CNN number provided and plead that they investigate these agencies: DNR's, Wildlife Services, the DEC, all government agencies WHO ARE PROFITING BY KILLING OUR WILDLIFE AND ARE SLAUGHTERING OUR MUTE SWAN because they are receiving federal grant money to do so. They are also bringing in trumpeter swans to states where there are none. Trumpeters are the largest game bird and eventually, when the population is established, they will be hunted for a hefty sum.Please call 404.827.1500 and select option 1

Please Tweet and copy and paste the following message to these animal supporters along with copying and pasting the message below on your own Twitter Page.

We need everyone's help with this or the mute swans will continue to be slaughtered across the United States for reasons that have no truth, facts, or true scientific studies to back them up.

MUTE SWANS ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED BY OUR DNR AND WILDLIFE SERVICES ACROSS THE US UNDER FALSE CLAIMS. PLEASE JOIN IN THE FIGHT FOR THE TRUTH AND STOP THESE DEFENSELESS MUTE SWANS, THE INTERNATIONAL SYMBOL OF PEACE, FROM BECOMING EXTINCT.

This message was sent by Karen Stamper using the Change.org system. You received this email because you signed a petition started by Karen Stamper on Change.org: "STOP THE KILLING OF MUTE SWANS IN MICHIGAN." Change.org does not endorse contents of this message.